It's not a proper CES until we get our Microsoft keynote. Since the departure of Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer's presence has become something of a beloved tradition for the tradeshow. Whatever you might think of the guy, one thing's for sure: Microsoft's CEO sure knows how to put on a show.

We're going to be on hand for the event at the Hilton in Las Vegas. The lights go down at 6:30 PT (9:30 ET) tonight. Expect our live coverage to start shortly before that.

So what do we expect from tonight's main event? First, it stands to reason that there will be a lot of time devoted to Windows 7's successes. After all, Microsoft boasted about Vista until it was blue in the face, and we all know how that turned out.

Microsoft Office 2010 will almost certainly get some face time as well; the company has been doing the hard sell on business software this week. Oh, yeah, and can you say "Bing?" You'd better believe Steve Ballmer can. Over and over again. Here's hoping he entertains us with a round of that number-one single, "Bing Goes the Internet."

Project Natal, Microsoft's forthcoming gesture-based controller, will probably get some face time. The prototype has progressed a good deal since it first debuted back at E3.

Some sources are predicting that Microsoft will attempt to nab some of Apple's thunder with the announcement of a tablet. According to The New York Times, the device will be manufactured by HP and is scheduled for a mid-year release. Could this be the rumored Courier device? It seems somewhat unlikely, being that it won't be a Microsoft-branded piece of hardware.

Any more outlandish predictions? Here's one from me: Yahoo's MIA CEO Carol Bartz explains her "scheduling conflict" on stage with Ballmer via a big deal between the companies to help the once-great Internet giant's struggling search division.

Find out the answers to all this and more at 6:30 PM PT time tonight, after the jump.